11/29/2009 3:20:00 PM Spend It Here! Part 5 Antiques offer something for everyone
VVN/Steve Ayers
Antique stores have a little something for everyone, even the person doing the shopping. Described by a store owner as menageries of serendipity, they are one of the few places you can go where Christmas shopping is still an adventure.
The valley's antique stores offer an opportunity to find unique, affordable and personal gift items
VERDE VALLEY - Standing in the front room at Larry's Antiques in Cottonwood's Old Town, listening to the cash register hum and clang, it is difficult to believe the American economy is as miserable as it is made out to be.
The packed parking lot and the 30 or 40 shoppers milling through the two-acre collection of bygone treasures also belies the notion that Christmas 2009 will be a huge disappointment for the business community.
"You certainly can't tell from here that there's a bad economy," says owner Larry Lahaie, "I would estimate we are seeing a minimum of 200 people in here every day and sales are up by about 50 percent from last year."
What's Larry's secret?
"Give the public what they want. And we have something for everyone," Lahaie says.
Lahaie may also be the benefactor of a shift in consumer attitudes. There is no study to prove it, but Lahaie's busy antique business may represent a new trend toward old things.
With so many people searching for meaning in a world of unfulfilled promises, pieces of the past still hold the promise of being unique, affordable and above all, personal, to anyone wanting to give the perfect gift.
So for anyone wanting to shop local, who doesn't feel comfortable making a gift of China-manufactured consumer goods, consider stopping in at any one of the valley's seven antique stores.
Larry's Antiques, the undisputed superstore of Verde Valley antiques, has a yard and several buildings filled with his own stuff plus 30 dealer booths. He specializes in diversity.
Sweet Pea Antiques in Camp Verde also offers a diverse collection, mostly items less than $50, from more than 30 individual dealers
Like Sweet Pea, Home Sweet Home in Cottonwood is an antiques malls made up of individual booths from more than 30 dealers. They offer a lot of furniture, collectables and at least three vintage Indian jewelry dealers.
A Checkered Past, the valley's newest store, offers a diverse collection of antiques and collectables from 17 dealers. Backstreet Antiques specializes in smaller items along with gold, silver, coins and jewelry.
"All of us also offer something the box stores and retailers can't offer," says Cecy Gilbert, a dealer at Sweet Pea antiques. "Everything on our shelves is recycled. Think of shopping for antiques as a way of going green."
All seven can be best described as menageries of serendipity. So just like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates, you never know what you might get until you get inside.
And like Lahaie says, they all have something for everyone.
